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February 14, 2008
Preliminary list of issues facing 218th General Assembly outlined
LOUISVILLE – The key issues coming before the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) were outlined here Wednesday (Feb. 13) during a joint meeting of the General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive Committee and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA).
“There are a number of critical items,” the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, told the joint group assembled. Both bodies also are conducting business separately this week.
Topping a “Preliminary Top 10 List” are a new form of government and steps toward partnership in world mission.
The Form of Government Task Force (FOGTF), created by the 217th GA (2006), will bring its recommendations for a revised polity to the upcoming assembly meeting June 21-28 in San Jose, CA.
The group is recommending that the Book of Order be amended by substituting a new section entitled “Foundations of Presbyterian Polity” for Chapters I-IV of the current Form of Government. Also recommended is that Chapters 1-6 of a new Form of Government be substituted for Chapters V-XVIII of the current Form of Government.
Partnership in world mission also is expected to be a primary issue addressed by the GA, which will hear the results of a consultation on the issue called for by the previous assembly.
“Renewed Call to Presbyterian Mission in the World! A Dialogue for Our Shared Future,” held Jan. 16-18, brought together leaders from the PC(USA)’s World Mission program unit and a host of other Presbyterian-related groups that do mission.
In a climate where mission is being done by a plethora of bodies with less reliance on the national church for mission sending, consultation planners sought to find common ground via a shared set of core values and practices, and to find a way to move ahead together.
The result of the consultation, held in Dallas, was the document “An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission,” signed by all the participants.
“I was just filled with emotion” after reading the consultation’s document during the gathering, Linda Bryant Valentine, executive director of the GAC, told the joint meeting between COGA and the GAC Executive Committee.
“It was just this sense of unity, … of joining together,” she said. “It was just a precious, precious time.”
The other key issues on the “Top 10 List” of issues facing the GA are:
- Ecumenical stance and covenants: Action is expected on a wide variety of ecumenical concerns.
- Peace, unity and purity: This will include proposals to reconsider some or all of the actions of the 217th GA regarding recommendations made by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity (PUP) of the Church.
- The Belhar Confession: The assembly will be asked to act on a proposal to take the first step toward adding the confession to the Book of Confessions.
- Middle East concerns: Overtures and proposals related to peace and justice issues regarding Israel/Palestine and Iraq will be addressed.
- Elections: A new GA moderator and stated clerk will be elected.
- Ordination exams: The issue will be looked at in the context of the self study of the Presbyteries’ Cooperative Committee on Examinations, which calls for a special study to identify new directions for the exams and the partnership between presbyteries, seminaries and the GA.
- Domestic social justice concerns: Various social justice issues will come before the assembly, including the adoption of a new Social Creed and policy papers on serious mental illness, energy and global warming, and pay equity for women.
- A church for future generations: Two assembly committees will be charged with doing “generative” thinking for the church.
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